Targeting to users with seeded or discounted credits in a virtual currency system

ABSTRACT

A virtual currency system keeps track of virtual credits, which can be owned, transferred, purchased, and sold by participants in a virtual economy. Each virtual credit has an internal value and an external value, which define, respectively, the exchange rates for creating and redeeming the virtual credits. Upon creation of new virtual credits, the internal value for those credits is the rate for which real currency was paid per credit. The external value sets the rate at which the virtual credits can be redeemed for real currency. Each virtual credit may further have a face value, which is an apparent value of the virtual credit within the virtual economy, giving users a baseline impression for valuing the virtual currency. These features of the virtual currency enable a number of useful actions within the virtual economy, including currency seeding, couponing, and chargebacks.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/584,717, filed on Aug. 13, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 12/839,993, filed Jul. 20, 2010, each of which isincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to virtual economies, and inparticular, to creating, redeeming, and tracking virtual credits by avirtual currency system.

Virtual currency systems enable users to interact in a virtualenvironment by transacting with other entities in the virtualenvironment. Users may exchange virtual credits for a variety ofdifferent purposes, such as a purchase of goods or services from avendor or a gift or payment between individuals. In some systems,virtual credits can also be exchanged for real currency, such as bypurchasing virtual credits with real currency and/or redeeming virtualcredits for real currency. Conventionally, however, all virtual creditsare treated the same in virtual currency systems. In particular, virtualcredits are created based on an original exchange rate, and they areredeemed for real currency at that same exchange rate.

Because of this limitation, it is difficult to distinguish among orotherwise enable different types of credits in conventional systems. Forexample, seeding credits to a user may involve creating credits withoutan initial cost or with a discounted cost. Then, when the seeded creditsare transferred or redeemed, the seeded credits may need to beidentified and/or their original cost tracked. Otherwise, the virtualcurrency system may not be able to distinguish the seeded credits fromother credits in the currency system. Identifying the seeded credits maybe necessary, for example, for providing the correct value uponredemption of the virtual credits or for other accounting requirements.

Discounting of goods or services in the virtual currency system may alsoinvolve creating credits that have different exchange rates for realcurrency. For instance, a vendor may desire to identify and acceptvirtual credits that have a real currency value (i.e., a redeemablevalue) that is lower than the actual value of the good or service inorder to provide a discount to a user. But existing virtual currencysystems, which are not able to create and track virtual credits havingdifferent characteristics, do not enable such discounting schemes.

These inherent limitations of existing virtual economies stem, at leastin part, from their inflexible relationship with real currencies, suchas how virtual credits may be exchanged for real currency. Moreover,existing virtual currency systems fail to provide adequate accountingmechanisms that enables higher level features in a virtual economy.Accordingly, there is a need for improved ways of creating, tracking,and redeeming virtual credits in a virtual currency system.

SUMMARY

To enhance the capabilities of a virtual economy, embodiments of theinvention provide a virtual currency system that manages units of avirtual currency, called virtual credits. The virtual credits may beowned by and exchanged among various participants in the virtualeconomy. The participants in the virtual economy may include individualusers, vendors or other non-individual entities, such as third partypayors, and even the central manager of the virtual currency system.Moreover, the virtual credits may be purchased and/or sold in exchangefor real currency. The purchase of new virtual credits may involve thecreation of new virtual credits by the virtual currency system, and thesale of existing credits may involve the redemption of existing virtualcredits by the virtual currency system.

In one embodiment, a virtual currency system keeps track of informationabout the virtual credits. For example, each virtual credit may have aninternal value and an external value, and these values may be differentfor different virtual credits (or buckets of virtual credits). Theinternal and external values for each virtual credit define,respectively, the exchange rates for creating and redeeming the virtualcredits. Upon creation of new virtual credits, the internal value forthose virtual credits is the rate for which real currency was paid pervirtual credit, which may be different from an apparent face value ofthe virtual credit. The external value of the virtual credits may alsobe established at creation, where the external value sets the rate atwhich the virtual credits can be redeemed for real currency. Eachvirtual credit may further have a face value, which is an apparent valueof the virtual credit within the virtual economy, giving users abaseline impression for valuing the virtual currency. The face valuethus allows the virtual currency to be expressed in terms of areal-currency monetary value (e.g., 100 virtual credits may have a facevalue of $10).

As virtual credits are transferred within the virtual economy, fromparticipant to participant, the virtual currency system tracks thesevalues for the virtual credits. The ability of the face, internal, andexternal values to be different, and the tracking of these values forthe virtual credits owned by each participant, enables a number ofuseful actions within the virtual economy, including currency seeding,couponing, and chargebacks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a high-level conceptual diagram illustrating the virtualcurrency system where credits are created, transferred, and redeemed, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a network diagram of a system environment for creating,transferring and redeeming credits, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting a process for creating credits in avirtual currency system, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the participant account module and the data storemodule of the virtual currency system, in accordance with an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a transfer of credits betweenparticipants' accounts, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the redemption process, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of the creation, transfer, and redemption of creditsamong participants of the virtual currency system, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

The figures depict various embodiments of the present invention forpurposes of illustration only. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

A virtual currency system offers participants a means to exchange goodsand services in a virtual online environment. Participants exchangevirtual credits to purchase goods, services, or other items of value. Avirtual currency system can provide access to goods and services for awider audience of users than a traditional currency system by providingnew and easier methods to purchase or acquire goods and services. Asused herein, the term “credit”, or “virtual credit,” refers to a unit ofvirtual currency used in the virtual currency system. “Virtual currency”refers to currency that is exchanged for value in a virtual environment.In contrast, “real currency” refers to any type of currency used intransactions of value outside of a virtual environment. Real currencycan also include intangible currency, such as mobile phone minutes,airtime credits or other units of value used in a wireless servicesaccount. The virtual currency system can exist in any virtualenvironment where users can interact and exchange value, such as anonline game website, an online simulation environment, a socialnetworking environment, or an online marketplace. The goods or servicesthat are exchanged in the virtual currency system may be real, virtual,digital, or a combination thereof.

In the virtual currency system, a bucket of virtual credits is createdwith an internal value, an external value, and a face value. A bucket ofcredits may include one or more credits. The internal value is set bythe original rate for creating the credits. The external value is set bythe rate of exchange of the credits for real currency. The face value isthe value of the virtual currency that is shown to the users of thesystem.

Creating credits with an internal value and an external value allows forvarious applications. The internal value of the bucket of credits can bedetermined to allow for currency applications such as discounting orseeding. An internal value that is lower than the actual cost ofcreating a bucket of credits allows the user to receive a discount forthe cost of purchasing the credits. An internal value of zero enablesseeding of credits to a user at no initial cost. Moreover, discountingof the external value lowers the redemption value of the credits. Anexternal value that is lower than the cost of a good or a service allowsthe vendor to give a discount to the user for the good or service. Theinternal and external values can be used as identifying attributes for abucket of credits and enable tracking of the credits through varioustransactions in the virtual currency system.

Participants of the virtual currency system can include users, vendors,a central manager, and third party payors. Users are individuals thatacquire or purchase credits and exchange the credits for goods orservices. Another type of participant is a vendor, which can beindividual, business, developer, or entity that provides services orgoods in exchange for credits. The central manager manages the creation,transfer, and redemption of credits and interacts with the participants.The central manager can be an individual, group, entity, business orsocial network provider. In some embodiments, the central manager canalso act as a user or vendor. The central manager can provide goods andservices in exchange for credits from users. Other participants caninclude non-individual entities or third party payors, such aselectronic payment providers or mobile phone carriers, which facilitateor participate in transactions in the virtual currency system. Variousother participants may be included in the virtual currency system.

FIG. 1 shows a high-level block diagram of an embodiment of the virtualcurrency system. In one embodiment, the central manager 100 interactswith users 110 and vendors 120. The central manager 100 issues credits130 in exchange for real currency 140. The user 110 can purchase credits130 from the central manager 100 in exchange for real currency 140. Theuser 110 can exchange credits 130 for goods or services 150 from avendor 120. The vendor 120 can accept credits 130 from users 110 inexchange for goods or services 150 and redeem the credits 130 for realcurrency 140 from the central manager 100.

Various other transactions can occur among the participants of thevirtual currency system. In some embodiments, the central manager 100also acts as a vendor 120 and provides goods and services 150 to users110 in exchange for credits 130. The central manager 100 can sellcredits 130 to users 110 and vendors 120. Moreover, the central manager100 can sell both credits 130 and goods and services 150 to users 110.For example, the central manager 100 can sell a bucket of fifty creditsto a user 110 for ten dollars, and then sell an online game applicationto the user 110 in exchange for the same credits 130.

In other embodiments, the vendor 120 can sell credits 130 to the user110 in exchange for real currency 140. In one embodiment, vendors 120can redeem credits 130 for real currency 140, but users cannot redeemcredits 130 for real currency 140. The vendor 120 can also purchasecredits 130 from the central manager 100.

In another embodiment, a third party payor, such as an electronicpayment provider, mobile phone carrier, or mobile virtual networkoperator, can assist in transactions within the virtual currency system.In some aspects, the third party payor can purchase credits 130 from thecentral manager 100 on behalf of the user 110. The third party payor canalso charge a fee for the transaction. For example, a user 110 canpurchase credits 130 via a mobile phone carrier. The user 110 has anaccount with the mobile phone carrier and can request to trade minutesfor the purchase of credits 130. The mobile phone carrier can subtract acertain number minutes from the user's account for the value of thecredits 130 and include a surcharge for the transaction. In anotherembodiment, the mobile phone carrier can charge the user's accountdirectly for the purchase of the credits 130. The mobile phone carriercan purchase credits 130 from the central manager 100, and the centralmanager can provide the credits 130 directly to the user. In otherembodiments, the mobile phone carrier can receive credits 130 from thecentral manager 100 and provide the credits 130 to the user 110. Theuser 110 can also request that the mobile phone carrier purchaseservices or goods 150 from a vendor 120 on behalf of the user 110. Forexample, a user 110 can request that the mobile phone carrier purchasean online game application from a vendor 120 on behalf of the user 110.

System Architecture

FIG. 2 is a high level block diagram illustrating a virtual currencysystem environment 200 suitable for the creation, redemption andaccounting of virtual currency. The system environment may comprise oneor more user devices 210, one or more external websites 220, a server230, and a network 201. The user devices 210 comprise one or morecomputing devices that can receive user input and can transmit andreceive data via the network. For instance, the user devices 210 can bedesktop computers, laptop computers, portable computers, smart phones,personal digital assistants (PDAs) or any other device includingcomputing functionality and data communication capabilities. The userdevices 210 are configured to communicate via the network 201, which maycomprise any combination of local area and/or wide area networks, usingboth wired and wireless communication systems.

In some embodiments, the virtual currency server 230 is accessed througha website 220. In other embodiments, the virtual currency server 230 isaccessed through a social networking website.

The network 201 is connected to a server 230, which comprises a creationmodule 231, a transfer module 232, a redemption module 233, a data storemodule 234, a user account module 235, and a communication module 236.In other embodiments, the server 230 may include fewer, additional ordifferent modules for various applications.

The creation module 231 creates new credits with identifying values andattributes. An embodiment of the creation process is described in detailin FIG. 3. In one embodiment, the creation module 231 creates buckets ofcredits and determines attributes associated with the bucket of credits,which may include one or more of the following: the number of credits inthe bucket, an internal value, an external value, a face value, a uniqueidentification (“ID”) number, and a time stamp. Other identifyingattributes may be created for the bucket of credits.

The data store module 234 inputs and stores attributes about the bucketof credits in a database. In some embodiments, the data store module 234records information about the ID number associated with the bucket ofcredits, the number of credits in the bucket, the internal value, theexternal value, and a time stamp for the bucket of credits. The datastore module 234 can record data about the transaction history for abucket of credits or a portion of the credits.

The participant account module 235 stores information about the accountsof the participants in the virtual currency system. In some embodiments,each participant has an account with a record of the credits owned bythe participant. The participant account module 235 stores informationabout the number of credits in the participant's account and the IDnumber associated with each bucket of credits. The details about thedata store process are shown in FIG. 4.

The transfer module 232 transfers credits among participants' accountsin the virtual currency system. The transfer module 232 can transfercredits from a transferring participant to a receiving participant. Forexample, the transfer module 232 can transfer credits from the centralmanager 100 to a user 110, from a first user 110 to a second user 110,or from a vendor 120 to a user 110. The transfer process is described indetail in FIG. 5.

The communication module 236 enables communication between the variousmodules and the network. The communication module enables connectivitywithin the environment of the virtual accounting system. If the virtualcurrency system is accessed via a website, the communication module is aweb server.

Creation of Virtual Credits

FIG. 3 shows the detailed steps for the creation of a bucket of creditsin the virtual currency system. The creation of virtual credits beginswhen the creation module 231 receives a request to create a new bucketof credits 300. The request may be accompanied with an amount of realcurrency required to create a bucket of new credits. In someembodiments, no amount of real currency is required to create a bucketof new credits. The creation module 231 may receive a plurality ofrequests to create new buckets of credits.

The creation module 231 also determines the number of credits that willbe created for a new bucket 310. For each bucket of credits, thecreation module 231 determines attributes to assign to the bucket ofcredits. For instance, the creation module determines the internal valueof the bucket of credits 320. The internal value is based on the initialexchange rate for creating the credits. For example, if the initial costto create a bucket of 100 credits is $10.00, the internal value would be$0.10. Each credit in a bucket is assigned the same internal value. Insome embodiments, the internal value of the bucket of credits is hiddenfrom the users of the system.

The creation module 231 also determines an external value for the bucketof credits 330. The external value is a rate at which the credit isexchanged for real world currency. The external value is attributed toeach credit in the bucket. For instance, for a bucket of 100 credits,each of the credits in the bucket has an external value of $0.05. Theexternal value of $0.05 is used to calculate the value of the 100credits at the time of redemption of the credits, which would result in$5.00 of real currency. Each credit in the bucket has the same externalvalue. In some embodiments, the external value of the bucket of creditsmay be hidden from the user or vendor.

Every credit in the virtual currency system is given a fixed face value.The face value can be the same for all credits in the system. The facevalue is the apparent value of the credit that is presented toparticipants in the system. For example, the credit may have a facevalue of 10 virtual currency units, but have an internal value of $0.01and an external value of $0.05. In some embodiments, the face value maycorrespond with the internal value or the external value of the credit.In other embodiments, the face value can be independent of the internalvalue and the external value of the credit. In another embodiment, theface value is given a real currency value. For instance, a credit may bepresented as having a face value of $0.10.

The creation module 231 assigns a unique identification number (“IDnumber”) to the bucket of credits 340. Each credit in a bucket carriesthe same ID number, and different amounts of credits from the samebucket can be tracked through various transactions based on the IDnumber. The creation module 231 can assign a time stamp to the bucket ofcredits 350, which may include details about the time and/or date whenthe bucket of credits was created. The creation module 231 may associateone or more additional attributes to the bucket of credits. The creationmodule 231 associates the bucket of credits with all of the attributes.

The creation process continues with the data storage module 234, whichinputs a record about the bucket of credits and its associatedattributes into a data store 360. The data store module 234 can updatethe data store for a plurality of buckets of credits by recording dataabout each new bucket and the corresponding identifying attributes.

FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of the data store module 410 and theparticipant account module 420. The data store module 410 inputs andstores information into a data store 430 about the various attributesassociated with the bucket of credits. In some embodiments, the datastore module 410 records the ID number associated with the bucket ofcredits, the number of credits in the bucket, the internal value, theexternal value, and a time stamp for the bucket of credits. The datastore module 410 can record the number of credits that were redeemedfrom the bucket and/or the number of remaining credits in the bucketafter one or more of the credits are redeemed. The data store module 410may input fewer or additional attributes about the bucket of credits.The data store module 410 can store attributes about every bucket ofcredits in the virtual currency system.

In one embodiment, the data store module 410 stores the informationabout the bucket of credits according to the ID number. In someembodiments, the data store module 410 records the buckets of credits ina database in the chronological order in which they are created. Inother embodiments, the data store module 410 records and organizes thebuckets of credits according to the internal value or the external valueof the credits.

Next, the data store module 410 assigns a number of credits to one ormore accounts of participants. A bucket of credits may be assigned toone participant or apportioned to numerous participants. When a bucketof credits is assigned to a participant, the attributes of the bucketare maintained with the bucket of credits in the participant's account.

The participant account module 420 makes a record of the credits thatare assigned to one or more participants. FIG. 4 illustrates that abucket of credits or a portion of the bucket of credits can be assignedto a participant's account 440. The participant account module 420records data about the credits in each participant's account 440according to the data in the data store. For instance, the participantaccount module 420 can record data about the number of credits and theID number of the credits in the participant's account 440. In someembodiments, the participant account module 420 includes a database ofall the accounts 440 in the virtual currency system. In one embodiment,a participant's account 440 comprises a table with entries of creditsand the information about each entry, including the bucket ID number forthe bucket from which the credits in the entry originated. In someembodiments, the participant's credits are listed chronologically in theparticipant's account 440 according to the order in which theparticipant acquired or purchased the credits. In other embodiments, theparticipant account module 420 lists the credits in a table based onother attributes of the bucket, such as the number of credits, IDnumber, internal value or external value of the credits.

In another embodiment, the creation module 231 can create classes ofcredits. A class of created credits can be defined by one or moreattributes, such as the external value, internal value, or anotheridentifying attribute described herein. The number of created credits ina class can increase as more credits with the same defining attributesare created. The class of credits is not limited by the time at whichthe credits were created or the number of credits that were initiallycreated in the class. For instance, a class of created credits can bedefined by an internal value, such as an internal value of $0.05 percredit. The class of created credits can expand in number each time morecredits are created with an internal value of $0.05. The creation module231 can create numerous classes of credits categorized by anyidentifying attribute(s). The data store module 234 can record the dataabout the class of credits and input the number of credits in the classas credits are created and redeemed.

Transfer of Credits

The transfer module 232 can transfer a newly created bucket of creditsinto a participant's account. The transfer module 232 begins a transferof credits when it receives a request to transfer credits from oneparticipant's account (e.g., the transferring participant) into anotherparticipant's account (e.g., the receiving participant). When a transferof credits occurs, the transfer module 232 updates both the account ofthe transferring party and the account of the receiving party. In someembodiments, the transfer module 232 receives information about thenumber of credits to be transferred from a transferring party's accountand the bucket ID number associated with the credits. The transfermodule 232 updates the transferring party's account by reducing ordeducting the number of credits in the account by the number of creditsthat are to be transferred to the receiving party's account. An entireentry for a bucket of credits can be removed from a transferring party'saccount if the transfer request depletes all of the credits in thebucket. Next, the transfer module 232 can update the receiving party'saccount by adding the number of credits that were transferred into theaccount, which includes associating the attributes about the bucket ofcredits with the account of the receiving participant. For instance, thebucket ID number is associated with the transferred credits in FIG. 4.Accordingly, the transfer module 232 can transfer credits amongparticipants' accounts while maintaining data about the attributesassociated with the transferred credits.

The order in which the credits are transferred can be varied in thevirtual currency system. In some embodiments, the credits aretransferred according to the chronological order in which theparticipant acquired or purchased the credits. In a first-in-first-out(“FIFO”) method, the credits that were acquired or purchased first arethe first to be transferred out.

FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of a transfer of credits using the FIFOmethod between the account of Participant A 510 and the account ofParticipant B 520. Participant A can make a request to transfer 60credits from Participant A's account 510 to Participant B's account 520.Prior to the transfer, Participant A's account 510 shows a list ofentries that represent credits that Participant A owns and the order inwhich Participant A acquired the credits. The order of the credits inParticipant A's account 510 shows that Participant A first acquired 50credits with an ID Number 1 and then acquired 25 credits with an IDNumber 2. Participant B's account 520 has no credits prior to thetransfer. The transfer module 232 can transfer the credits that wereacquired the earliest (ID Number 1) based on the chronological list ofcredits in Participant A's account 510. If the first bucket of creditsdoes not fulfill the transfer request, the next bucket of credits (IDNumber 2) is used to fulfill the request to transfer credits toParticipant B's Account 520. For example, in order to transfer 60credits from Participant A to Participant B, the transfer module 232first updates Participant A's account 510 by removing 50 credits of IDNumber 1. This depletes all of the credits with ID Number 1 inParticipant A's account 510, and the entry for ID Number 1 is deletedfrom Participant A's account 510. Next, the transfer module 232 removes10 credits of ID Number 2 from Participant A's account 510. The transfermodule 232 updates Participant B's account 520 by adding entries for 50credits of ID Number 1 and 10 credits of ID Number 2. After thetransfer, 15 credits of ID Number 2 remain in Participant A's account510.

In some embodiments, the data store module 234 can record theinformation about each transfer that is carried out by the transfermodule 232. In one embodiment, the data store module 234 can record thenumber of credits that are transferred, the bucket ID number, and theaccount of the participant to which the credits are transferred for eachtransaction. The data store module 234 can store the entire transactionhistory for a bucket of credits as the credits are exchanged andapportioned in various transactions in the virtual currency system.

In another embodiment, the credits in the participant's account with thelowest internal value are transferred before other credits with a higherinternal value. In some embodiments, the credits with the lowestexternal value are selected for transfer before other credits with ahigher external value. In other embodiments, the credits with thehighest external value are selected for transfer before other credits inthe participant's account. In a related embodiment, the external valuesof all of the credits held in the participant's account are averaged,and the credits are transferred equally without consideration of whenthe credit was obtained or the external value or internal value of thecredits.

Redemption of Credits

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of the redemption process. Theredemption module 233 can execute the redemption of virtual credits intoreal currency. The redemption module 233 receives a request for creditsto be redeemed 600 from a participant's account. The redemption module233 identifies the credits to be redeemed in the participant's accountaccording to the bucket ID number(s) 610. Next, the external value(s)associated with the credits must be identified 620. The request can alsoinclude information about the number of credits to be redeemed. Theredemption module 233 removes the credits from the participant's account630 and removes the record about the credits from the database 640. Theredemption module 233 pays the user in real currency for the value ofthe credits based on the external value associated with the credits 650.The exchange rate between the redeemed credits and the real currencypaid for them is set by the external value of the credits that are beingredeemed. For instance, a vendor may request to exchange a bucket of 100credits for real currency from the central manager. The credits may havean external value of $0.05, so the vendor would receive $5.00 of realcurrency upon redemption of the bucket of credits.

In another embodiment, the data store module 234 can remove the recordin the database to indicate that the credits have been redeemed from thesystem. The participant account module 233 can also update the record inthe participant's account to remove the credits that have been redeemed.

In some embodiments, only certain types of participants, such as vendorsor third party payors, can redeem credits for real currency. In oneembodiment, individual users may purchase credits and exchange creditsfor goods and services within the virtual currency system, but may notredeem the credits for real currency. The central manager receives therequest to redeem the credits from the vendor or third party payor andmanages the payment of real currency.

In one embodiment, the credits with the lowest internal value in theparticipant's account may be redeemed before other credits with a higherinternal value. In some embodiments, the credits with the lowestexternal value are redeemed before other credits with a higher externalvalue. In another embodiment, the external values of all of the creditsheld in the participant's account are averaged, and the credits areredeemed equally without consideration of the external value of thecredits.

In some embodiments, a participant can be charged a tax when credits areredeemed for real currency. For example, a sales tax can be applied tothe payment of real currency at the time of redemption. In otherembodiments, a tax is applied for each transfer of credits within thevirtual currency system.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of the process of creating credits,transferring and tracking credits through various transactions based onthe ID number associated with the credits, and redeeming credits forreal currency. In some embodiments, the creation of credits 701 requiresthe input of real currency. The credits are then assigned to one or moreusers. In FIG. 7, User A 710 is assigned 100 credits with ID Number 1.The credits can be tracked through various accounts and exchanges basedon the ID number, even though the credits are apportioned into smallerportions or individual credits. For example, User A 710 transfers 50credits with ID Number 1 to Vendor A 720 and 50 credits with ID Number 1to User B 730. Next, Vendor A 720 transfers 10 of the credits with IDnumber 1 to User C 740. User B 730 then transfers 20 credits with IDnumber 1 to Vendor B 750. Multiple transfers of credits with ID number 1can occur in this manner among various participants within the virtualcurrency system. The transfer module 232 can carry out each transfer ofcredits, and the data store module 234 can record the transactionhistory for the bucket of credits as the credits are transferred amongvarious participants' accounts. Finally, Vendor B 750 redeems all of itscredits 702 in exchange for real currency. The central manager canmanage the creation 701 and redemption 702 of credits. Various othertypes of transfers among multiple participants may occur in accordancewith embodiments of the inventions.

EXAMPLES Seeding of Credits

Credits with unique internal values and external values allow forseeding in the virtual currency system. A class or bucket of credits canbe created with an internal value of zero and can be used to seedcredits to users. Seeding occurs when credits are given to users withoutcost to the user. For instance, seeding new credits to a user canencourage a user to use a new online game or application. The user cantry the online game or application at no cost by using the seededcredits. In some embodiments, the central manager can seed credits tousers and track the transfers of the credits through the virtualcurrency system. The tracking of the seeded credits can help the centralmanager to see where and how seeded credits are spent. It can alsoenable the central manager to target offers to users who have seededcredits in their accounts.

In some embodiments, the central manager can subsidize the cost ofseeding credits to users. For example, the central manager can create abucket of 100 credits with an internal value of $0.00 and an externalvalue of $0.05 and present the credits to a user. The vendor may provide$5.00 of services in exchange for the seeded credits from the user, andthe vendor may redeem the bucket of credits for a real currency value of$5. The central manager subsidizes the cost of creating the credits andpays $5.00 when the credits are redeemed.

Seeding can also require a vendor to subsidize the costs of creating thecredits. For example, a bucket of 100 credits may be created with aninternal value of $0.00 and an external value of $0.05. The credits canbe seeded to a user with an invitation to spend the credits with anonline game vendor. The online game vendor may provide $10.00 worth ofservices in exchange for the 100 credits. When the vendor redeems the100 credits, the vendor will only receive $5.00 in real currency basedon the external value of $0.05. In this exchange, the vendor willsubsidize $5.00 of the cost of seeding the user. In other embodiments,both the central manager and the vendor can subsidize the cost ofseeding credits to users.

In a related embodiment, a user can earn credits in exchange for apreferred activity or behavior. A vendor can seed credits to users as aform of compensation for a user's participation or activity. Forexample, an online game developer can present an opportunity to a userto play its game or participate in a survey in exchange for a certainnumber of credits. Once the user has completed the activity or survey,the developer can seed credits to the user. The user may spend theseeded credits with the developer's application or other vendors in thecurrency system.

Discounting

Credits with unique internal values and external values can be used fordiscounting within the virtual currency system.

In some embodiments, discounting can occur when the credits are created.A user can purchase credits where the credits have an internal valuethat is less than the face value of the credits. For example, the actualcost of creating a bucket of 100 credits may be $10.00. A discount canbe provided to the user by setting the internal value to $0.09, ratherthan the actual cost of $0.10. This allows the user to purchase thebucket of 100 credits at a discounted price of $9.00 based on theinternal value of $0.09 per credit. When the user transfers thediscounted credits to a vendor, the vendor receives less than full valuefor the credits. The user may only see the face value of the credits andnot be aware about the discounted value at the time of purchase.

In other embodiments, discounting can occur when a vendor accepts avalue as payment for a good or service that is less than the actualvalue of the good or service. For example, a bucket of 100 credits mayhave an external value of $0.09. A vendor may offer a service to a userthat has an actual worth of $10.00 in real currency. The vendor mayallow a discount for the service by accepting the bucket of 100 credits,and the vendor will receive $9 upon redemption of the bucket of 100credits. This type of discounting requires the vendor to subsidize thecost of providing the good or service to the user.

In another embodiment, the cost of discounting goods and services to auser can be shared by the central manager and the vendor. For instance,the central manager can seed a bucket of 100 credits to a user with aninternal value of $0.00 and an external value of $0.05. The user mayexchange the bucket of credits for a good or service from a vendor thatis actually worth $10.00. When the vendor redeems the bucket of creditsfrom the central manager, the vendor receives $5.00 from the centralmanager based on the external value of $0.05. In this exchange, thecentral manager subsidizes the cost of creating the seeded credits($5.00), and the vendor subsidizes the discounted cost of providing thegood or service to the user ($5.00).

Various types of discounting can occur where the cost of discounting isshared by the vendor or central manager in the virtual currency system.

Redistribution

In other embodiments, the vendor can purchase credits from the centralmanager and redistribute the credits to users at a discount. Forexample, a vendor may purchase a bucket of 100 credits with an internalvalue of $0.05, and then sell the credits to users at a discount of$0.04 per credit. In some embodiments, the vendor may redistribute thecredits to users at no charge (seeding). This practice keeps creditswithin the currency system and increases overall liquidity.

Viewing Accounts and Targeting Users

In some embodiments, an individual user's account balance and the typeof credits in the user's account are visible to other participants, orto specific types of participants, such as vendors. The informationabout the type of credits in a user's account may include the externalvalue or internal value, among other attributes of the credits. In oneembodiment, an individual user may give another participant, such as acentral manager or a vendor, permission to view the user's account.

In other embodiments, the central manager or vendor may targetindividual users who have a certain number of credits or credits with acertain internal value or external value. For instance, the centralmanager may want to target users with seeded credits in order to removethose credits from the virtual currency system or to encourage thoseusers to spend the credits. In other embodiments, the central manager orvendor may target users with a large number of credits and invite thoseusers to spend the credits. Users holding credits with a lower externalvalue compared with other credits in the system may also be targeted forspending.

In another embodiment, the central manager or vendor may target a userbased on the user's historical activity or transactions in the system. Auser with a history of purchasing or spending a large number of creditsmay be offered a discount or an incentive to spend the credits with thecentral manager or a specific vendor. For instance, an online gamedeveloper (a type of vendor) may target a user who engages in extensiveonline gaming in order to attract the user as a customer. The developermay view multiple users' accounts and their past transactions in thevirtual currency system to determine which user has engaged in gamingactivity. In one embodiment, the developer can also determine the numberof times the user has viewed the developer's products or services, orthe number of times the user has viewed or purchased products andservices of similar vendors. In another embodiment, the developer maypresent an offer to a user to purchase a bucket of credits for exclusiveuse with the developer's game. In some embodiments, the bucket ofcredits may be presented to the targeted user at a discounted price. Thedeveloper may also seed a bucket of credits to the user in order toattract the user to the game.

In a related embodiment, an individual user can be notified if theindividual user has reduced his or her purchasing or spendingactivities. The notification may be sent via email, multi-mediamessaging service (MMS), text message, web page alert, or similarelectronic or online communication medium. The central manager or avendor may seed credits to the user to encourage the user to re-engagein spending activities. In another embodiment, the user can be notifiedif he or she does not have enough credits to spend with a certainvendor. The user can be notified about how many credits the user willneed in order to purchase a specific product or service.

Refunds and Chargebacks

Credits with unique internal and external values also allow for the useof refunds and chargebacks in the virtual currency system. If a userpurchases a bucket of credits and later decides to return the credits,the user can receive a refund in real currency based on the internalvalue of the bucket of credits. For instance, if a user pays $5.00 forthe purchase of 100 credits and later decides to return those same 100credits, the user can receive a refund of $5.00, based on the internalvalue of $0.05 associated with the credits. The central manager refundsthe value of the credits to the user and removes the credits from theuser's account. In some embodiments, the user requests the refund forcredits and receives the refund via a third party payor or vendor. If auser requests a refund of the credits after spending them with a vendor,the vendor refunds the user the value of the credits, and the centralmanager removes the credits from the vendor's account. A vendor may beallowed to keep the user's credits in its account, for example, if therefund request is received within a certain amount of time after theuser-vendor transaction (i.e., 90 days).

In other aspects, a transferring participant can transfer a certainnumber of credits to an account of a receiving participant. After thecredits are transferred, the receiving participant may return thetransferred credits to the transferring participant. The transferredcredits can be identified by any of the attributes associated with thecredits, such as the ID number, external value or internal value. Thecredits can be returned to the account of the transferring participant,and the receiving participant can receive a refund of the transferredcredits. The transfer module 232 can carry out the return of thetransferred credits, and the data store module 234 can record data aboutthe refund transaction. The participant account module 235 can updaterecords about the transferred credits in each of the participant'saccounts.

Loans

In one embodiment, the credits in the virtual currency system can beused for loaning A participant (e.g., a transferring participant orloaning participant) may loan credits to another participant (e.g., areceiving participant or a borrowing participant) by transferring acertain number of credits to the receiving participant's account. Insome embodiments, a loaning participant can view the contents of anotherparticipant's account before loaning credits to the participant. Inother embodiments, the transferring participant can also track thetransferred credits based on an associated attribute, such as theexternal value, internal value or bucket ID number. For instance, thecentral manager can loan a certain number of credits to a borrowing userand track the use of the credits based on the bucket ID number. The dataabout the loaned credits can be recorded in a data store. The data aboutthe loaned credits (i.e., loan balance) can also be recorded andmaintained in the account of the transferring participant and/or theaccount of the receiving participant. In some embodiments, the receivingparticipant can later return the loaned credits back to the transferringparticipant or pay the loaning participant for the credits. When theloaned credits or the value of the loaned credits is returned, both ofthe participants' accounts and the data store can be updated to removethe record of the loan balance. In some embodiments, the loaning canoccur among users of a social network environment.

Third Party Payors

In some embodiments, a third party payor can purchase credits on behalfof a user. The third party payor can be a mobile phone carrier, alsoknown as a mobile network operator (MNO), carrier service provider(CSP), wireless services provider, or other wireless carrier. The thirdparty payor can also be a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) orsimilar entity. In some embodiments, the third party payor is anelectronic payment provider or online payment service provider (PSP).

In one embodiment, a mobile phone carrier can purchase credits on behalfof a user and charge the user's account for the cost of the credits. Thethird party payor may charge an additional fee (e.g., surcharge) to theuser for the purchase of the credits. The central manager can receivethe real currency (minus the surcharge) from the third party payor andcreate a bucket of credits that have a discounted external value toaccount for the surcharge. The central manager can then provide thecredits directly to the user.

In other embodiments, the user may exchange minutes in his or her mobilephone account for the purchase of credits. If the mobile phone carrierprovides mobile phone credits to the user, the user may trade in his orher mobile phone credits to purchase virtual credits.

In another embodiment, the third party payor can sell credits to userson behalf of the central manager or vendor. In one embodiment, the thirdparty payor can be awarded a bonus of real currency from the centralmanager for selling credits to users.

Summary

The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has beenpresented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed.Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the abovedisclosure.

Some portions of this description describe the embodiments of theinvention in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations ofoperations on information. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are commonly used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to convey the substance of their work effectively toothers skilled in the art. These operations, while describedfunctionally, computationally, or logically, are understood to beimplemented by computer programs or equivalent electrical circuits,microcode, or the like. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient attimes, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules, withoutloss of generality. The described operations and their associatedmodules may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or anycombinations thereof.

Any of the steps, operations, or processes described herein may beperformed or implemented with one or more hardware or software modules,alone or in combination with other devices. In one embodiment, asoftware module is implemented with a computer program productcomprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code,which can be executed by a computer processor for performing any or allof the steps, operations, or processes described.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to an apparatus forperforming the operations herein. This apparatus may be speciallyconstructed for the required purposes, and/or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computing device selectively activated or reconfiguredby a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer programmay be stored in a tangible computer readable storage medium or any typeof media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and coupled to acomputer system bus. Furthermore, any computing systems referred to inthe specification may include a single processor or may be architecturesemploying multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.

Embodiments of the invention may also relate to a computer data signalembodied in a carrier wave, where the computer data signal includes anyembodiment of a computer program product or other data combinationdescribed herein. The computer data signal is a product that ispresented in a tangible medium or carrier wave and modulated orotherwise encoded in the carrier wave, which is tangible, andtransmitted according to any suitable transmission method.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principallyselected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not havebeen selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter.It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited notby this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on anapplication based hereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodimentsof the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, ofthe scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising: storingan account for each of a plurality of participants of a virtual economy;receiving a request to create new credits of a virtual currency;recording a plurality of created credits and a set of attributes of thecreated credits in a data store, the created credits associated withtheir attributes; identifying a set of the created credits, each creditin the set having an attribute indicating that an amount of realcurrency provided when a credit in the set is redeemed is greater thanan amount of real currency used to fund the credit in the set; assigningthe created credits to one or more accounts of participants in exchangefor receiving an amount of real money from a participant; identifyingaccounts of participants assigned one or more credits from the set ofcreated credits; and targeting a communication to one or more of theparticipants based on the participants' being associated with anidentified account.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the communication comprises an invitation to transfer one ormore of the credits from the set of created credits to an additionalparticipant in exchange for a good or a service.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein presenting thecommunication to participants associated with an identified accountcomprises: transmitting the communication to one or more devicesassociated with the one or more participants associated with one or moreidentified accounts.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3,wherein the communication is transmitted using one or more selected froma group consisting of: a multi-media messaging service, a text message,a web page alert, and any combination thereof.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the communicationcomprises a notification of a change in an amount of credits transferredfrom an identified account to one or more additional accounts.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein identifying accounts ofparticipants assigned one or more credits from the set of createdcredits comprises: identifying accounts of participants assigned one ormore credits from the set of created credits having an amount of realcurrency used to fund the one or more credits is zero.
 7. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein identifying accounts ofparticipants assigned one or more credits from the set of createdcredits comprises: identifying accounts of participants associated withan account including at least a threshold number of credits from the setof created credits having an amount of real currency used to fund theone or more credits is zero.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein identifying accounts of participants assigned one or morecredits from the set of created credits comprises: identifying accountsof participants associated with an account including at least athreshold number of credits from the set of created credits.
 9. Acomputer-implemented method comprising: storing an account for each of aplurality of participants of a virtual economy; creating a number ofcredits and a set of attributes of the credits; recording, by aprocessor, the number of created credits and the set of attributes ofthe created credits in a data store, the created credits associated withtheir attributes; assigning the created credits to one or more accountsof participants; identifying one or more accounts including one or morecredits having a specified attribute; and presenting a communication toparticipants associated with an identified account.
 10. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the specified attributecomprises an attribute indicating that an amount of real currencyprovided when a credit is redeemed is greater than an amount of realcurrency used to fund the redeemed credit.
 11. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 9, wherein the communication comprises an invitation totransfer one or more of the credits having the specified attribute to anadditional participant in exchange for a good or a service.
 12. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein presenting thecommunication to participants associated with an identified accountcomprises: transmitting the communication to one or more devicesassociated with the one or more participants associated with one or moreidentified accounts.
 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12,wherein the communication is transmitted using one or more selected froma group consisting of: a multi-media messaging service, a text message,a web page alert, and any combination thereof.
 14. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the communicationcomprises a notification of a change in an amount of credits transferredfrom an identified account to one or more additional accounts.
 15. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the communicationcomprises a notification of a change in an amount of credits having thespecified attribute in an identified account.
 16. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein identifying one or moreaccounts including one or more credits having the specified attributecomprises: identifying accounts of participants assigned one or morecredits having an attribute indicating that an amount of real currencyused to fund a credit is zero.
 17. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 9, wherein identifying one or more accounts including one or morecredits having the specified attribute comprises: identifying accountsof participants including least a threshold number of credits having thespecified attribute.
 18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17,wherein the specified attribute is an attribute indicating that anamount of real currency used to fund a credit is zero.
 19. Acomputer-implemented method comprising: storing an account for each of aplurality of participants of a virtual economy; creating a number ofcredits and a set of attributes of the credits; recording, by aprocessor, the number of created credits and the set of attributes ofthe created credits in a data store, the created credits associated withtheir attributes; assigning the created credits to one or more accountsof participants; retrieving prior actions associated with the one ormore accounts of participants; identifying one or more accounts based atleast in part on their associated prior actions; and presenting acommunication to participants associated with an identified account, thecommunication including an invitation to transfer one or more of thecredits from the set of created credits to an additional participant inexchange for a good or a service.
 20. The method of claim 19, whereinidentifying one or more accounts based at least in part on theirassociated prior action comprises: identifying one or more accountsassociated with a threshold number of a specified type of prior action.21. The method of claim 19, wherein identifying one or more accountsbased at least in part on their associated prior action comprises:identifying one or more accounts including one or more credits having aspecified attribute and associated with a type of prior action.